Well we've come to that day of the week when I write my blog and share with you the next chapter in, Vampire - In the Beginning. I've also started a serial of Vampire on youtube and I'd love it if you some of you would check it out, and maybe let me know what you think and if you could share it - well, I would be so thankful :-)
So, I've been very busy this week making the youtube video, and I have also started writing a new fortnightly serial I will be releasing next week. This serial is a little bit different, in that it doesn't have any supernatural elements, but instead focuses on murder and the life of a profiler who helps capture murderers. I'll also be starting the next Mary Howard, book soon, so it looks like I'm going to be a busy bee for a little while. Albeit, that is the way I like it, although if the rain would just stop, life might well be perfect (who am I kidding, I never won the 57 million lotto).
Okay, well here is the youtube link for the first audio version of chapter one of,Vampire - In the Beginning, and below is the third chapter from the same book. Thanks for dropping by - chat soon.
Charmain x
Youtube link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcR3XnP56f0
Chapter
Three
I awake to find myself in the barn. Sitting up, I look blankly around
the cold, black space, but I don’t need to wait for my eyes to adjust to the
dark to know that more death and destruction grimly awaits me. The strong
metallic smell of blood already assaults my senses, and knowing that my worst
fears are going to be realised, I lift my head and search for Tom, hoping
against all hope that he still survives.
It doesn’t really surprise me when after my eyes grow accustomed to
the dark, I see Tom and Joe’s lifeless bodies hanging from the rafters. Their
abdomens gaping wide open, their entrails lay sprawled in a bloodied tangled
mess at their feet, and their throats had been sliced open, causing the
dripping congealing blood to cling in thick globules to their torsos.
Bile rises up from my already empty stomach to scald and burn my
throat. I fall onto my side on the dirt floor of the barn, and curl into the
fetal position in order to wait for the torture that I now know will be my
final fate.
“Oh dear, I’m sure there’s no need to make such a fuss?” The clear
clipped tones of an aristocratic man vibrate through the barn, and I instantly
recognise it as belonging to one of the men from the kitchen. Scrabbling in a
panicked rush up onto my feet, I shout in anger, “WHO ARE YOU? WHY DID YOU DO THIS?”
The man steps forward and for the first time I can see him clearly. He
is of broad but slim stature, and his movements flow with elegance. The second
man is larger and remains behind the first man, I cannot see his face, but I
can see from his outline that his head is to one side, in a way that suggests
that he was deeply contemplating a thought.
“My name is James Middleton, my lady,” the first man says with mocking
amusement, “and in answer to your question, my lady, why should I not do this?”
He indicated behind him to where Tom and Joe hung, an evil smile twisting his
arrogant, handsome face.
“HOW COULD YOU SAY SUCH A THING?” I scream at him like a banshee.
The man chuckles again. Vulgarity and arrogance radiate from him as he
steps closer towards me.
“Well, I’ll say this for you, my pretty, you show more fight than the
snivelling fools over there.” He then moves even closer, and says with cruel
amusement, “I can say such a thing…because of this, my sweet.”
His face changes beyond all recognition, resembling a face which I can
only describe as devil-like. His eyes turn opaque, his teeth grow to resemble
those of a vicious snarling dog, and his face turns into that of an evil rabid
monster! Before me, I suddenly realise, are men who feed off human blood and
suffering, and although I had heard tell of such monsters, I had never before,
up until this moment, given these tales much thought, believing them to be the
imaginings of poor confused minds.
“You don’t tremble at the sight of me, girl?” he asks me in a
questioning and slightly confused tone.
“Why should I tremble, sir?” I reply in a sarcastic tone, and raise my
head higher.
“If I cower or not…There is no doubt that you are going to kill me.
What is the point of me crying over what will be anyway? Do what you must, but
you’ll not see me tremble, for I feel that it would please you, sir, and it is
not my intention or wish to please you!”
He throws his head back and laughs heartily, “Well then, I guess it
will pain you to know that you do please me, girl, I just love the hunt…and I
think you’ll be a good catch!”
For all of my brave talk, I am very afraid. Especially when he grabs
me, and I see that his mouth is opening up wide, and his strong white teeth are
growing in preparation for the bite into my flesh.
“STOP!” The man in the shadows shouts, stepping forward.
“Robert? What ails you?” the one who introduced himself as James says,
his face instantly returning to its human form.
“Step away from her, James, NOW!”
James releases me from his grasp, and it is in that instant that I
realise that the larger man, whose name I now know is Robert, is the leader,
and I can see that James is very afraid to anger him. Robert steps towards me
and for the first time I see his face. It has the look of an eagle, predatory
and commanding, his eyes are dark and brooding, his body well-muscled and
strong, and his overall appearance brooked no doubt he was a man to be obeyed.
“Come here, girl,” he said in a soft but commanding voice. I remember
trying to fight his command and wanting to run in the opposite direction. I was
therefore amazed that, instead of running, I found myself walking towards him.
“Don’t be afraid of me, girl, I’ll not harm you,” he said staring down
into my eyes with a hypnotic gaze. I should have been petrified; after all, I
had seen the murderous scenes inside the farmhouse and barn - but I’m not
afraid, and instead I feel calm and at peace. Robert places his hand gently on
my stomach and closes his eyes. When he opens them again his stare is intense,
and a fiery red line outlines his pupils, but his stance becomes softer.
“You’re expecting a child?” he asks me softly.
“Yes I am,” I state in a matter of fact tone. “I don’t know for how
long, though. I fear that the shock of this day will cause my body to
miscarry.”
His eyes probe deeply into mine, once again predatory, the effect
causing me to drop my head in fear.
“What’s your name?” he asks softly. Placing his hand under my chin, he
tips my head back, so that once again I am looking up into his eyes.
“My name is Gwendolyn…..but people call me Gwen.” A smile touches his
lips, and he says, “You’ll not lose the child, Gwen. You’re carrying a strong
and healthy boy, and he will have your spirit and strength of mind and his
father’s strength of body. This boy will be a prince among men and will achieve
all his heart desires.” Robert pauses, his eyes glow with something akin to
sadness.
When he continues, his voice is low and I strain to hear his words. “I
will make a deal with you, Gwen, I want a child of my own…a
son…but…circumstances beyond my control dictate that I will never produce one.”
Anger momentarily flares up in his eyes and I fleetingly see the fierceness of
his true personality. He drops his head, and I notice that he is visibly trying
to regain the control of his emotions. When he lifts his head, his face is once
more a mask.
“I will allow you and your child to live. You’ll live in luxury, and
will want for nothing, but your son will be my son, and my wife will be his
mother.” He pauses to allow what he has said to me to sink in. He then
continues, “I’ll give you the gift of everlasting life, and my son, when he is
a man, will be my heir and a prince among vampires…If you decide that you
cannot do this, then I’ll kill and feed from you today, Gwen…It is your
choice.”
Dread crept like a disease through my body. I could live like a
monster and condemn my son to a life of depravity, or I could allow us both to
die and my son would never know the light of day or the sweet intoxicating
beauty of life.
“When will my son become a vampire?” I ask him, and then continue,
“When will I become a vampire?”
“It will be your choice when or if you do, but I give you my word that
you’ll not die at my or any other vampire hand. My son, if he is to be my son,
will become a vampire on the eve of his eighteenth birthday.”
Did I have a choice? How did anyone stare death in the eye and calmly
say ‘take me’, how could I do that? Worse still, was the fact that I would also
need to stare my son’s death in the eye. I would die knowing that I consented
to and condoned the end of his life!
A thought suddenly occurred to me and looking Robert straight in the
eye, I voiced it. “What will happen if my son chooses not to embrace the life
of a vampire? What would happen if he chose to remain human?”
“You are intelligent, I like that,” he said, and then continued, “If
he chooses not to embrace his destined life it will be his choice.” I open my
mouth ready to speak, but he interrupts me by holding his hand up, he then
continues. “He will not be harmed if he decides to make the decision to remain
human, but I warn you, Gwen, I sense that it is his destiny. I feel his
strength and I think he will make the decision to become a vampire.”
I did not need to hear anymore, my son will live for eighteen years as
a human, he will be able to remain this way if he so chooses, and I will do
everything in my power to ensure that he doesn’t become a vampire. I know which
of the choices I will make; I know I have no other choice!
“I accept your deal, Robert,” I simply state. I then turn and walk in
the opposite direction, away from him, the barn, Tom’s hanging body, and away
from the life I have always lived and would never know again.
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